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Poor polyandry

By Dylan Byers

01/22/14 10:57 AM EST

Earlier this week, the conservative news site Washington Free Beacon published an article about a senior fellow at the progressive Center for American Progress who, according to WFB, had "suggested polyandry as a means to boost the earnings of low-income households."

The problem is that the article in question, written by CAP's Judith Warner and published by Time Magazine, was tongue-in-cheek -- something the Free Beacon either failed to understand or, in an effort to needle their liberal rival, willfully ignored.

Warner's essay was penned in response to conservative arguments that marriage was the best way to combat poverty — an argument largely rejected by progressives. In response, Warner offered a more outlandish idea: Polyandry.

"Polyandry, it turns out, can be an efficient way of dealing with tough times and constrained resources," she wrote, before ending on a riff about the TLC reality show that might surround "four proud, doting men flanking one exhausted yet empowered woman."

Free Beacon nevertheless used this piece as the subject for an article titled, "CAP Senior Fellow: Polyandry Could Help the Poor," and reached out to some of the think tank's corporate supporters to ask for comment.

In an email to Comcast, which a source shared with POLITICO, Free Beacon reporter Lachlan Markay said the piece would be "an attempt to look more generally at how think tanks' positions on controversial issues reflect on their supporters." He then asked whether Comcast "would like to comment on their support for a group that, to use a recent example, endorses polygamy as a means to alleviate poverty."

Comcast is one among nearly 60 organizations, including Wal Mart and Goldman Sachs, that provide support to CAP.

The article, which appears under a "Washington Free Beacon Staff" byline, hit both Comcast and Wal Mart for supporting the think tank.

"Comcast and Walmart, two of the think tank’s corporate supporters, did not respond to requests for comment on whether they support efforts by activists employed by the think tank they fund to legalize polyandry," it read.

Washington Free Beacon, which declined to comment, does not disclose its donors.

UPDATE (11:06 a.m.): Markay emails:

Yes, Ms. Warner made a joke — it was just a very creepy one. Our piece was written by WFB Staff, as the byline makes clear, so I can’t speak to it in much detail. But I did wonder whether CAP’s legion of corporate donors thought the piece was as funny as Ms. Warner did, so I put in a couple calls. #journalism